Frank Mir allowed to use testosterone prior to bout with Junior dos Santos

Testosterone use has once again been associated with UFC 146 after it was discovered Frank Mir was allowed to undergo Testosterone Replacement Therapy while his training for a recent match with Junior dos Santos for the heavyweight title. As many fans may remember, Dos Santos’ original opponent – Alistair Overeem – was pulled from the card after testing positive for a severely elevated T:E ratio.

Mir, who lost to Dos Santos, was granted a therapeutic-use exemption by the Nevada Athletic Commission. The former two-time heavyweight champion became the fourth fighter in the UFC granted a TUE. Shane Roller, Todd Duffee, and Dan Henderson have all been granted TUE by the Nevada Athletic Commission with Chael Sonnen expected to add to the group next month when he faces Anderson Silva.

MMAJunkie confirmed the report with Keith Kizer on Friday. Mir was subjected to a pair of urine tests that needed to be within the limits set before him and five blood tests. All were and he was cleared by the commission.

I got to thinking about the latest cases of fighters using TRT. Chael’s big scandal of using it after the Silva fight of which he lost, Rampage admitting he used it against bader, and lost, Mir now being allowed to use it against JDS, and losing. That’s three stand out cases that I remember making news at least, and all three lost, wonder if it’s not so performance enhancing as people think.

Note I’m sure people have won while on TRT, just this was the first cases that came to mind when I got to thinking about it and it was an interesting observation, even if not exactly true.

Many people have this perception that anabolic steroids can turn you into some sort of athletic freak. They can help in some ways, but they don’t increase agility or technique. They can actually decrease agility. They help to increase strength and power, and to a lesser extent, aggression. I’m not convinced that taking these substances will get a fighter any more wins than training naturally. Maybe it could help in what would otherwise be a really close fight. As AlphOmega mentioned, just as many fighters have lost taking steroids, as have won.

I have a feeling that Mir started this on the down low when he bulked up so quick after he lost to Lesnar. He also recently refused to answer a question posed about someone else on TRT. I think someone asked his opinion on Overeem.